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Are gas prices changing home buying habits?

Rising gas prices have an affect over many aspects of our lives. Besides increasing the cost of operating automobiles, more expensive fuel leads to an increase in the cost of shipped goods, food and airline tickets. Can gas prices also create changing attitudes amongst home shoppers?

Coldwell Bankers Real Estate recently conducted a survey of real estate professionals, and it found that 75 percent reported clients reevaluating where they search for homes. Home shoppers are looking to reduce commuting distance in order to reduce fuel consumption. The survey found that 77 percent of real estate professionals saw an increase in the number of folks looking for home offices and 68 percent of that pool believe the surge is attributable to rising fuel costs.

The folks at Nielsen have a different take on the matter, however, and believe U.S. consumers have adjusted to a new "spending reality." Folks are adjusting their spending habits to conserve where possible, but Nielsen doesn't believe it's on the level of the 2008 economic freakout.

So now we're going to turn to you, dear Autoblog reader. If you're in the market for a house, have rising gas prices shaped your search in any way? Sound off in Comments.

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I'm closing on a house after commuting 11 years from a small town into the Bay Area. I'm going from 110 miles round trip each day to 30 round trip. While gas prices did help me think about moving closer, in reality it was the loss in time I spent in the car each day. I roughly lose from two to three hours depending on traffic conditions each day. I feel as if I'm getting a part of my life back.

I just moved and gas prices were definitely a factor.
Given the option to live 5.6 miles from work or roughly 30, I picked the shorter commute, despite the area being marginally less desirable.
A home purchase is a long-term commitment, and it makes sense to consider the long-term trend of gasoline prices. Namely, they aren't going down. Shorter commutes (or proximity to mass transit) will be more valuable as time goes on.

I live 8 miles from work and my wife is 2 blocks from her work. We chose our house for that reason. Besides the obvious saving on fuel costs, we figure our time driving to work is work we aren't getting paid for.

i lived about 20 miles from work in an apartment. my fiance and i just bought a house about 5 miles from work. gas was not the key factor, but anything farther than 10-15 miles was unacceptable for us.

1.) In the city I live in, decent houses near my work place a upwards of 3 million $ a piece, and "tear me downs" are a million $ or more. 30 kilometers out in the suburbs, prices are $800K to $1.5 million for a nicer, bigger, newer home with bigger lots (I grow fruit trees, have a green house and grow vegetables).
2.) Property prices increase at a much faster pace in absolute numbers than gas prices
3.) I have better access to recreational facilities and parks in the burbs where I stay.
It would be nice to live closer to work, but the reality for a lot of us working in an expensive city is that we can't afford it - unless we hit a lottery jackpot. I would rather pay for gas and a longer commute time than to be saddled with a million$+ mortgage. A lot of us ordinary folks simply do not have the financial means to fulfill our idealistic dreams.

Much more important than the cost of gasoline is the amount of time wasted commuting. I used to commute 45-50 minutes each way, close to 2 hours a day spent in the car, and I hated it. Now, my 10 mile commute feels much shorter than the 20 minutes it takes.

"Commuting costs" (a combination of fuel, time, and overall convenience) was certainly a major factor in where I moved to. I was able to reduce my one hour (each way) driving commute to a 5 minute walk.

I recently changed jobs from a 45 minute transit commute to a 45 minute drive. I miss the former commute because I could catch up on email and work-related reading. Now its just wasted time where I'm held captive. I'm lucky that I live in a 'hood where there is stuff to walk to. I can go out and have dinner and some drinks and not worry about driving home. Easy to bike also. One thing to note is that real-estate values in my area and other city and close-in neighborhoods have held up during the recesssion, whereas as 20, 30, 40 miles out theres foreclosures everywhere. In the long term the restructuring of the mortage market will have a bigger effect that gas prices on location choices. Home prices will be more a function of their real value and proximity to amenties, not based on speculation and subsidized by government policy.

Like others have said, the price of gas might not be the biggest factor in deciding where to live. The quality of life in many cities is rapidly improving, and being closer to your job is just an added benefit. The downside is that housing prices have skyrocketed as a result.